Max Schneider Interview

A lot of you saw the movie Rags and said it was one of your favorite movies ever. We interviewed the beautiful Keke Palmer, and now we have an interview with Max Schneider who plays Charlie in the movie, and also plays Zander in How to Rock.

Q: Describe your character Charlie in Rags. Max:Rags is a twist on the classic Cinderella story. I play the Cinder-fella character, and Keke Palmer is the prince character. Charlie is a really good guy. He always wants to do the right thing. He just loves music. He has big dreams and he wants to work really hard to be a big pop singer. And he wants to make his mother proud; she just recently passed away. In a lot of ways, Charlie and I are very similar. I believe in doing the right thing and being kind to people, and Charlie doesn’t care if someone is a huge pop star or a janitor. He treats everyone equally and that’s one of my values as well. Also he has huge dreams, and I always wanted to be a singer and an actor. You’ve got to follow your dreams.

Q: Had you met Keke before you did the movie? Max: No. I knew her work of course, and she’s a star. When I met her, I was so pleasantly surprised. She’s so down to earth. She’s such a kind person. We got along so well right away. We had two weeks rehearsal before we started filming, and we got along great.

Q: What’s the last song you downloaded? Max: The last thing I downloaded was the Rags soundtrack because it’s out now. I love “Someday” just because of the message. There’s a new acoustic version of it on the soundtrack too. Also “Perfect Harmony” that I do with Keke.

Q: Who is your celebrity crush? Max: Right now it’s Emma Watson. She’s so lovely. She just has a very elegant and lovely aura to her. She’s very petite, and I love girls who are short because I’m a short guy.

Q: What’s going on with How to Rock? Max: We just finished a special episode, and Cee Lo Green was the guest star. We performed with him. He was such a cool guy. We did “Crazy” the Gnarls Barkley song. Cymphonique sang and we did our own little version. We’re just finishing up our first season. We’ve got a couple more episodes left to do.

Q: After that, do you have any summer plans? Max: I’m going on tour with Victoria Justice in August and September, which I’m really excited for.

Q: Do you have a preference between acting and music? Max: This was such a blessing for me because it’s everything I love. I love acting and singing. I hope I never have to choose, but I don’t think I could ever spend a day not singing.

Q: What’s the funniest or most embarrassing thing that’s happened to you? Max: There was this one time when I was walking down the street in New York. It was after an audition and I was following my mom. I thought I saw her and I ran up behind her and gave her a big hug and said "Mom, I had a great audition!" She turned around and it wasn’t my mom. I was like, “I’m so sorry!" But the woman was like, “Oh, you can do that anytime!" I turned bright red. Then I ran away.

Q: Do you have any hidden talents that people don’t know about? Max: I can move one nostril and wiggle my ears. I also do an Elmo impersonation.

Q: How did you get into acting? Max: I’ve always loved musical theater. I grew up doing it and it’s really what initiated me. I started when I was five. It was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and I was one of the Oompa Loompas. I’m from New York City originally, and moved up to Woodstock for elementary and middle school. It’s where I started singing and taking ballet.

Oh, can you just picture a 5-year-old Max Schneider as a tiny, orange Oompa Loompa????? I am going to be smiling with that image in my head all day long!

im sooooo mad cause i cant find the cd for this movie and ive been looking forever and everywhere i wish it would show up oh i loved the movie he is sooo cute in rags plus hes a good no great singer…..

ha! an oompa loompa! i love that movie! Plus i love Rags. My baby brother always wants to watch and he even memorized half of “Someday”. You’ll find me singing “Nothing gets better than this” all the time since it’s my fave.